Automobile-railway.



Wn H. KLMMONS.

AUTOMOBILE RAILWAY.

APPLICATION FIL-ED DEC. a, 19u.

Fatmed Apr'. 30, 1918.

Wumssses ATTORNEY lill@ dlldirllllrlrml WILLIAM H. KIMMONS, 0F PXNON,NEW MEXICO.

AUTOMOBILE-RAILWAY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

ratenieii apr. se, isis.

Application led December S, 1917. Serial No. 206,210`

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that yI, VVILLAM H. KIM- MoNs, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Pinon, in the county of Utero and State of NewMexico, have invented certain new and useful Improi'feinentsl in anAutomobile-Railway7 of which the following is a spcciticatiton.

This invention is an automobile railway and is more particularly adaptedto provide a standard i-igl1tof-way with a permanent track havingturn-outs at suitable intervals so that automobiles or other types ofvselfpropelled vehicles may travel from place to place upon asubstantially built track.

One object of the invention is to provide a railway whose tracks aresubstantially semi-circular in cross section with rounded sides andsupporting said tracks by rail chairs that are secured to spacingmembers.

Another object is to provide `a track-way interrupted at suitableintervals with turnoutg and forming the track with iared or enlargedends that serve as guides to direct the wheels of the vehicle-.on thetrack.

Still another object is lto provide a rail chair having a substantiallyflat base and a curved uppe" surface to engage with a support to holdthe track clear of the spacing lnenibers such as ties.

A further object is to provide tracks with suitable renewable insertsplaced in the bottoni of the groove that will serve as grips with whichthe tire nlav engage to increase the traction as when climbing hills.

A, still furl her object is to provide a trackwav that will be simpleand strong in construction 'to provide a means for permittingself-propclled vehicles to travel from place to place upon aright-ol-way that niaybe nntintained in good' order at a minimum ofcost, om` that may be kept clear of obstructions and be substantiallyindepeiulent of climatic conditions and providing suitable tinirouls atintervals so that the vehicles may leave the track-way at convenientpoints.

Broadly stated thc invention lcomprises a track-Way formed of twoparallel tracks that are sen'ii-circula in cross section and areprovided with rounded edges, interrupting' the longitudinal length ofthe track-way at suitable intervals to forni turn-outs for the vward theflared end of the rail.

curing and supporting the rails by rail chairs, and upon inclines,placing suitable grips in the bottom of the groove of the raihl so thatthe traction of the wheels may he increased, and also providing therails longitudinally with s uitable drain holes, said rails and chairsbeing suittily mounted upon spaced members such ties to elevate thetrack-way. v /l One practical forni of construction and assembly will bedescribed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichz--Figure l. is a top plan view of sections ot the track way, and showingthe turn-outs,

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2m-2 of Fig. 1. and

Fig. ff is a sectional view on the line lof Fig. 1.

In 'the preferred embodiment about to be described the track-way isshown as being constructed of the rails 5 and G that are supported uponsuitable chairs secured to the "les 7. rl'hc rails as indicated at 5 andC mayv be each formed of suitable lengths and they may he joinedtogether in any suitable or worltinanlike manner as indicated, :torexample by the rivets 8. The joint itself being indicated at 9 may be ofthe butt type.

The rails are substantially alike in construction and form, andtherefore only one rail will be described. The rail 5 may con` and isprovided with the arc curved edge portions 10 and 11 as shown moreparticularly in Fig. 3.

At suitable intervals the rails 5 and (3 forming the track-way areinterrupted to forni turn-outs indicated at A and B. The rails 5 and 6at these points are provided with flared or enlarged ends 12, 13, 14,14, 15, and 151. Adjacent the flared ends the turnouts are provided withconcrete abutments 16 that are adapted to coperate with each one of theflared ends. As shown more particularly in Fig 1 'these concreteabutments are semi-circular in plan vand the upper surface preferablyslants downward to- The slant of the abutment 16 is more clearly shownin Fig. 2 while the form in plan is shown more particularly in Fig. 1.

The rails may be provided with suitable drain holes 17 that Will permitany Water that might accumulate in the groove to freely pass outward. Tomaintain the rails 5 and 6 spaced apart and also to provide strength andrigidity the cross bracesl indicated at 18 may be employed. rlhese crossbraces 18 may be suitably secured to the arc curved edge portion 11 asshownin Figs. 1 and 3.

The rails 5 and 6 are preferably sup ported upon rail chairs that mayhave a flat base 19A and a curved upper surface 20. The flat base 19 mayhave suitable anges through which may pass any suitable -fastening meanssuch as the spikes 21. The curved upper surface 20 may be formed as afiange that may be secured to the web portion 2Q. that extends upwardfrom the flange 19. The side Walls 23 and 24 are preferably vertical andare of the same width as the flange 19 and the upper surface 20. Thusthe rail chair provides a maximum of strength to support the rail 5. Tosecure the rail to the chair any usual means may be employed such as areindicated by the bolts 25.

In F ig. 2 the track is shown as going up an incline and in order toprovide for increasing traction the bottom of the groove of the track isprovided with suitable friction increasing means. This means may beformed in any suitable way but it is preferred to make them so that theyare renewable at little cost and with the expenditure of a small amountof labor. As shown7 the grips are composed of a body portion 26 that maybe substantially elliptical in outline and provided with a top that ismore or less pointed as indicated at 27.

The under surface of the body 26 is preferably flat and from thissurface there eX` vtends a threaded stein Q8 that is adapted to beengaged by a nut 29 To provide fpr fastening the grip to the"nail, therail is provided With a suitable hole 3d. rlhese may be arranged so thatthe grips are placed in a staggered relation or in alinement With eachother as shown in Fig. 1.

The track-way such as` has been described would be practically permanentin character and would provide a convenient means for traveling fromplace to place. It would not be subjected to climatic conditions such asthe ordinary road nor would it require extensive repairs or renewals tomaintain it in proper condition. would be substantially smooth andcontinu' ous and thev ends of the rails being embedded in concreteabutments would provide convenient and suitable means for permitting thevehicle to leave the track-way at the turn-outs The rails 5 and 6 may beformed of suit- Its road surface l much attention in steering as upontheconimon road as the wheels of the vehicle would be more or lesslguided by the trackway.

What l claim is 1. device of the type described wh'iclr comprises atrack-way composed of lengths of rails semi-circular in cross-sectionand having recurved edge portions, said trackway being interrupted atintervals to pitovide turn-outs, said rails at the turn-outs beingflared and provided with guide ways adjacent their ends, and means forsupporting and securing said rails.

2. An automobile railway which comprises a track-way composed oflongitudinally joined rails that are semi-circular in cross-section andhave rounded sides, said track-way being interrupted at intervals toprovide 'turn-outs, the rails at the turn-outs being enlarged and flaredto form guides to direct the wheels of a vehicle onto the rails.removable and renewable means secured at the bottom of the rail forincreasing the wheel traction, and means for supportingand securing therails in alinement upon spaced ties.

An automobile railway which coniprises a track-way composed of troughlike rails that `are joined together to form conlarged ends serving asguides` rail chairs for securing and holdingl the rails on spa ced tiemembers7 and means for increasing the traction of th"l automobilewheels.

4. An automobile railway which comprises a track-way composed of lengthsof rails semi-circular in cross-section and having recurved edgeportions, means for bracing the rails against transverse i'novcnient andmeans for supporting the rails out of contact with the ground and forsecuring Athe rails to ties.

In testimony whereof I atiix my signature in presence of two witnesses lVVILLAM H. KMMONS. Witnesses:

ROBERT WY. Vtiis'r, CHARLES E. Corn.

